Tom Service with cutting-edge and experimental new music

The centerpiece of tonight's show is the World Premiere of Jamaican composer Mikhail Johnson's Tell! Jonkonnu, Tell! A 40 minute jaw-dropping panoply of sound and feeling. In it he weaves a tale of the Jamaican folk festival Jonkonnu using a cast of characters, there's intrigue, empathy, hope, and social commentary all packaged in a hugely exciting and ever-changing sound world. The vocal soloist Elaine Mitchener talks to us about bringing the various characters to life in this first performance with Ensemble Klang from London's Wigmore Hall.

PROGRAM NOTES

This work is based on the vibrant and colorful street performance/parade called Jonkonnu. This festival parade is popular in Jamaica (also throughout the Caribbean and the Americas) during the Christmas holiday season. The performances consist of dancers and musicians dressed in brightly coloured and sometimes elaborate (even grotesque) costumes and masks portraying several characters. These characters range from the mythical and superstitious, to those that represent the impact of colonization and of those who hold great power in our society today.

In Tell! Jonkonnu, Tell! I conjure the characters to life to tell their story personally. In the eyes of the composer, some of these characters were made to assume the role of a particular person or group of persons albeit not in the original lore. Some of these stories give insight on how the character's involvement in real life events help immortalize their place in the parade lineup; collectively soliciting social commentary, humour, intrigue, empathy and hope.


TJT V. Haws Hed

Mikhail Johnson (1989) is one of Jamaica’s promising young pianists and composers. Winner of the Jamaica Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition for Young Musicians Senior Division in June of 2009 and the piano section of the Jamaica Music Teachers’ Association Music Competition in November of the same year, composer of piano and choral music, he has made consistent strides in the music profession.

As an active composer, He has been successful in competitions such being a finalist in the inaugural Cantus Ensemble Composition Competition in London where his composition Rose of Sharon received its world premiere and recording at the St. Gabriel’s Church in Pimlico, London by the Cantus Ensemble. ​In 2016 he was a winner of the North South Consonance Inc. Call for Scores resulting in world premiere performance of his piano work “Fantastic 4” at The Spectrum in New York City, and the Young and Emerging Composers Competition which led to the U.S. Premiere of “Misereatur” a version for string orchestra by the Cleveland Chamber Symphony in their NEOSonicFest Concert series.

In 2011 he had completed his book of 24 Choral Benedictions; published in 2016 which became a wonderful addition to his output of several choral anthems, Jamaican patriotic anthems, musical settings of poems and arrangements of African American Spirituals and hymns.

Johnson earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Biological Science and a minor in music from Northern Caribbean University (NCU) and currently attends the Bowling Green State University where he is reading for double Masters of Music degrees in piano performance and composition under the tutelage of Dr. Robert Satterlee (piano). Drs. Christopher Dietz and Mikel Kuehn (composition).